She is best known for her time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Ring of Honor (ROH). Also, she worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she is a one-time TNA Knockouts Champion. Kanellis' career began as a contestant on the reality show Outback Jack in 2004. In the same year, she placed fifth in the Diva Search, later hired by WWE as a backstage interviewer. Kanellis began competing in the ring as a professional wrestler in 2005. She released her debut album Sevin Sins on April 13, 2010.

Maria competed in the Diva Search in 2004,[10] deciding to enter the contest after seeing an advertisement while watching Raw.[13] Even though she only placed fifth in the contest, she was hired by the company.[3] She stood out in the contest by giving fellow contestant Carmella DeCesarethe finger after being eliminated from the contest.[3] Maria began making appearances in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWE's then-developmental territory.[3] She contributed booking ideas, and her work at OVW earned her a spot on the Raw brand roster.[3] Maria was brought on to Raw as a ditzy backstage interviewer and the host of WWE KissCam in November 2004.[14] Her gimmick involved her asking wrong questions, irritating and amusing the roster.[3][10]

On the November 28 episode of Raw, Maria interviewed then-Raw General ManagerEric Bischoff, and asked him whether or not he thought he was going to be fired. He then booked her in a match with Kurt Angle out of spite, and Maria was laid out with the Angle Slam.[17] As a result, one week later, Maria testified in the trial against Bischoff, who was being fired because of his controversial actions as General Manager.[18]

On the February 6, 2006 episode of Raw, Jonathan Coachman announced that Edge and Lita would have fought the mixed team of John Cena and Maria in the main event, and before the match Cena kissed Maria, who came into his locker room to express her nervousness for the competition (despite the kiss, any on-screen romance between the pair was born).[3][10][18] Maria scored the victory after a spear meant for Cena hit Lita.[20] On the April 10 episode of Raw, Maria received title match for Mickie James' WWE Women's Championship, but lost. On October 16, Maria won a Fatal Four-Way Bra and Panties match against Victoria, Candice, and Wilson to advance to the semi-finals in a Women's Championship Tournament.[21] Maria, however, lost in the semi-finals to Lita.[22]

On the January 1, 2007 episode of Raw, Maria attempted to interview Kevin Federline, but was instead slapped by Melina. This led to a match between the two later that night, which Melina won. At New Year's Revolution, Maria and Candice ran to the ring during the Women's Championship match between Victoria and Mickie James to stop Melina from interfering, helping James retain the title.[23] In the following weeks she faced Melina in two tag team matches, where she won one.[24][25]

After former Playboy cover-girl Ashley Massaro's return in early 2008, Kanellis engaged in backstage segments where Massaro suggested Maria should be on the cover of Playboy.[3][26] As a part of the storyline, Maria defeated Beth Phoenix on February 18, to "earn the right" to be on the cover of the magazine.[3] During her Playboy cover unveiling, Maria's cover was plastered over with images of Marella.[3][13] After Marella offered an ultimatum of posing for the magazine or staying with him as a couple,[27] she then broke up with him.[3] Maria, along with Ashley were defeated by Phoenix and Melina at WrestleMania XXIV in a Playboy BunnyManiaLumberjill match.[2][3][28] After the match, Maria passionately kissed the Master of Ceremonies, Snoop Dogg.[18][28] The next night on Raw, Maria wrestled Marella, but the match ended by disqualification. This ended their feud.

Maria participated in the Raw vs. Smackdown Divas match at Survivor Series, where she eliminated Jillian Hall before her team lost the match.[33] On the December 5 episode of SmackDown!, Maria got an upset victory over the Divas Champion Michelle McCool, but she was defeated by Maryse in a number one contender's match for the title two weeks later.[34][35]
At the Armageddon on December 14, Maria was part of the winning team of a Santa's Little Helper tag team match.[36][37] On the December 26 episode of SmackDown!, she served as a special guest referee in the Divas Championship match between Maryse and McCool, where Maryse became the new champion. After the match, McCool turned heel and attacked Maria, injuring her shoulder. Maria returned and attacked McCool during a match, on the January 23, 2009, episode of SmackDown. On the February 13 episode of SmackDown, she defeated McCool following interference from Eve Torres.[38] Over the next several weeks, Maria competed in various tag-team matches against McCool, with Maria winning three out of four matches.[39][40] She also competed at WrestleMania XXV for the "Miss WrestleMania" crown, but was eliminated by Victoria. Throughout June, Maria served as the special guest referee in Diva matches.

Maria then took a brief hiatus from the ring to film the Celebrity Apprentice, but returned on the December 4 episode of SmackDown by helping Mickie James fend off an attack by LayCool. She made her in-ring return the following week, teaming up with James to defeat LayCool. On December 14, Maria won the Slammy Award for Diva of the Year, which was voted for by WWE fans.[47] On the February 12, 2010, episode of SmackDown, Maria began a brief on-screen relationship with Matt Hardy.[48] On February 26, Maria was released from her contract.[49]

At the June 21 tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Kanellis accompanied Bennett and Brutal Bob Evans to the ring, where they lost to Eddie Edwards and Adam Cole. After the match, Kanellis, Bennett and Bob attacked Cole and Edwards, but were stopped by Sara Del Rey, who Edwards had brought in to neutralize Kanellis.[52] At the Boiling Point on August 11, Maria and Bennett lost to Del Rey and Edwards in an mixed tag team match.[53] In September 2012, Kanellis and Bennett became involved in a storyline with Mike Mondo after he kissed Kanellis during one of Bennett's matches. On Glory by Honor in October, Bennett defeated Mondo to end the feud. On December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, Kanellis along with Bob accompanied Bennett to the ring where he defeated Jerry Lynn in his final ROH match before retirement.[54] On September 19, 2013, Maria and Bennett defeated The Brutal Burgers (Brutal Bob Evans & Cheeseburger) in an Intergender tag team match.[55] On October 26, during Bennett's match with Kevin Steen at the Glory by Honor XII, Kanellis tried to interfere but was attacked by Lisa Marie Varon.[56]

Kanellis and Bennett returned to ROH at the January 4, 2014, tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling which aired on February 1, with Kanellis helping Bennett defeat Cedric Alexander.[57] Throughout the summer, Maria and Bennett would get involved in Matt Hardy's feud with The Briscoes.[58] During the feud, The Kingdom stole Jay Briscoe's title; Matt Hardy customized it as the Iconic Championship. At All Stars Extravaganza 6, Bennett and Maria customized the title as the Championship of Love. They were interrupted by Jay Briscoe's brother, Mark. Bennett and Kanellis left ROH after the December 19, 2015, Ring of Honor Wrestling taping, after failing to come to terms on a new contract with the promotion.[59]

On February 25, 2012, Maria won a tournament to determine the inaugural Family Wrestling Entertainment (FWE) Women's Champion. The victory also marked Kanellis' first championship in professional wrestling.[60] She held the championship until March 24, when she lost it to Winter in a three-way match also involving Rosita.[61] In July, Kanellis regained the championship from Winter.[62] Kanellis successfully defended her title against Angelina Love at FWE: No Limits.[63]

On the September 1, episode of Impact Wrestling, Maria berated and forcibly pinned her apprentice Allie to win the TNA Women's Knockout Championship for the first time in her career.[77] On October 2 at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view, Kim defeated Maria for the title, ending her reign at 50 days and Gail Kim also defeated Maria to step down as the new TNA Knockouts Commissioner.[78][79] On March 1, 2017, it was announced that Kanellis, along with her husband, had left TNA.[80]

Nine months later, on the October 10 episode of 205 Live, Maria officially made her television return as she interrupted a match between Lince Dorado and Lio Rush, allowing her husband (who debuted on the show) to attack Dorado.[86][87] Three weeks later, on October 28, in her first match back in WWE in over eight years, Kanellis took part of the first ever all women's pay–per–view, Evolution, where she competed in a battle royal for a future women's championship match but she was eliminated by the eventual winner Nia Jax.[88] Throughout the rest of the year, Kanellis would continue her managerial role as she would accompany her husband Mike to his matches on 205 Live where both would appear regularly.[89][90][91][92][93] On January 16, Pro Wrestling Sheet's Ryan Satin reported that Maria and Mike recently asked WWE to release them from their contracts.[94] Maria would go on to deny that she asked for her release.[95] Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Illustrated reported that they were not backstage at the following episode of 205 Live.[96] On January 27, 2019, at the Royal Rumble, Kanellis competed in her first women's Royal Rumble match, entering at number 15 and lasting 08:12 minutes before she was eliminated by Alicia Fox.[97] They would not appear on television until the January 29, 2019 205 Live, where Bennett would lose to Kalisto.[98]

Kanellis was first asked to pose for Playboy when she was nineteen years old, but she turned down the offer in fear of embarrassing her sister.[3][14][26] She eventually posed for the cover of the April 2008 issue, with an accompanying nude pictorial.[12] For the pictorial, she chose her own wardrobe and made the black hooded jacket she wore in one of the photos.[13][28] That same year, FHM named her 53rd of 100 on their "The Sexiest Women 2008" list.[105] With WWE transitioning to PG content a few months after Kanellis's pictorial and WWE dropping its use of the term WWE Diva in 2016 in favor of referring to the female talent as WWE Superstars along with the men, Kanellis was ultimately the last active WWE Diva to pose nude for the magazine.

Kanellis is also a singer and released her debut album Sevin Sins on April 13, 2010, with "Fantasy" as the first single.

In early 2011, Kanellis starred in online comedy web show Funny or Die, and in March 2011 she launched her own perfume line called Signature. In September 2011, Kanellis launched her DVD line in conjunction with Code Red DVD called Maria's B Movie Mayhem.[106]

In January 2014, Kanellis and Bennett launched a weekly podcast called Mike & Maria in Wonderland.[107]

Kanellis also owns and operates an event design company called Wonderland Event Productions.[108]

In a December 2011 interview, Kanellis confirmed she was dating Mike Bennett, and the couple were engaged in November 2012.[109][110] On October 10, 2014, Kanellis and Bennett married.[111] On September 25, 2017, Kanellis announced she and Bennett were expecting their first child.[112] On April 3, 2018, the couple welcomed their daughter, Fredrica "Freddie" Moon Bennett.[113]

In 2013, Kanellis was announced as one of the recipients of WWE's Talent Scholarship, which she utilized to obtain a degree in Sports, Entertainment, and Event Management from Johnson & Wales University, graduating in May 2017.[114][115]